Coast Guard Firing Ranges

From Great Lakes Wiki

The U.S. Coast Guard is planning on equipping it's boats with 7.62mm machine guns and setting up live firing ranges in 38 places around in the Great Lakes themselves.

Some residents believe that this will pose a threat to boaters who believe that vessels may stray into these live firing zones and get "blown out of the water"

Other residents are concerned by the ecological effect the firing ranges will have on the Great Lakes, after millions of spent shell casings get launched into them. The machines guns are able to fire 600 bullets per minute and send fire up to 4000 yards.

The coast guard is defending the reason for the firing ranges by citing the threat of terrorism after 9-11, and the need to secure the Great Lakes waterways.

November 12 is the last day for public input to notify their politicians about their feelings about this.

Thank goodness, US Coast Guard District Nine Commander decided that the Safety Zone plan was too disruptive. The plan has been tabled.